The Homewood Village board approved a promotion within the finance department at its May 9 meeting.
Amy Zukowski was sworn in as assistant finance director. She was also approved as the village’s agent for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.
The Homewood Village board approved a promotion within the finance department at its May 9 meeting.
Amy Zukowski was sworn in as assistant finance director. She was also approved as the village’s agent for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund.
“I’m very excited to take on this new role within the village. I’ve been with the village for nine years and my goal has always been to continue to advance my career within the village,” Zukowski said. “I look forward to taking on some new responsibilities and continuing to learn more about government finance.”
She graduated from Augustana College in 2004 with a degree in accounting and business administration with a concentration in management and then went on to earn her CPA license. Zukowski’s previously worked for Equity Office Properties in Chicago as a senior accountant for three years and as an auditor for Selden Fox in Oak Brook for a year.
Zukowski was first hired to be the village’s senior accountant in 2008. Finance Director Dennis Bubenik said her duties included keeping the books balanced, recording journal entries to the general ledger, running payroll and anything else needed to track Homewood’s financial records. She would also interact with new employees, doing things like explaining benefits packages.
“Around 2010 it was obvious Amy was far out performing her predecessors in this role. Plus, she was taking on more and more projects for the other departments,” Bubenik said.
She was given a raise in 2012, Bubenik said. A few years later, the department researched the responsibilities of senior accountants in other municipalities around the state.
“We saw Amy doing considerably more than her comparables,” Bubenik said. “We discussed another salary increase but opted to research other options.”
The decision was made to promote Zukowski to the new position of assistant finance director.
Her responsibilities will include much of the day-to-day accounting she’s always done. But she’ll also be included on larger projects with the finance director. Bubenik said Zukowski has, so far, not been involved in the downtown TIF project. As assistant finance director, she will be.
“My goal is definitely to remain with the village for the long-term. Homewood is a wonderful community and place to work,” Zukowski said. “We are a fiscally sound municipality and we intend to remain so going forward.”
Bubenik said much of Homewood government’s management staff will be lost to retirement within 10 years. Zukowski helps inject youth and continuity into the finance department.
“The village has always looked to find the next group of management staff and develop those staff members. Amy has developed the skills that will allow her to be an important/vital management staff member for decades to come,” Bubenik said. “The Village of Homewood is fortunate to have Amy as a member of our staff.”
This story originally included the wrong photo and the wrong date of Ms. Zukowski’s graduation. The Chronicle regrets the errors.